Putin congratulates Iran's president Rouhani on election win

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Russian president Vladimir Putin (File photo| AP)

TEHRAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory message to Hasan Rouhani after his re-election as President of Iran.

A statement on Kremlin website Saturday did not give the text of the message, but said Putin "confirmed his readiness to continue active joint work on the further development of Russian-Iranian partnership cooperation both on the bilateral and international agenda."

Russia is a key ally for Iran, with Russia supplying Tehran with weapons including the S-300 mobile long-range missile system. Russian engineers last year began expanding Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

In addition, Russia and Iran are two of the three so-called guarantors of an initiative to establish "safe zones" in Syria.